Dawn Revisited

Image by PacificBreeze from Pixabay

Most evenings, I try to think of something about the day that I’m particularly grateful for. There are usually plenty of things to choose from: a kind smile, a warm shower, a quiet moment with one of my daughters. Some days, though, the thing I’m most thankful for is that the day is ending.

And isn’t that a gift? That our days don’t go on and on without end? That we each get a chance to close the door on the hours we’ve just past?
And soon, a chance to start over again?

In this poem, former US Poet Laureate Rita Dove asks us to imagine what it would be like to wake up “with a second chance,” with the whole sky ours to write on. But we don’t have to imagine, do we? It’s a chance we get every single dawn.

Dawn Revisited

by Rita Dove

Imagine you wake up
with a second chance: The blue jay
hawks his pretty wares
and the oak still stands, spreading
glorious shade. If you don't look back,

the future never happens.
How good to rise in sunlight,
in the prodigal smell of biscuits -
eggs and sausage on the grill.
The whole sky is yours

to write on, blown open
to a blank page. Come on,
shake a leg! You'll never know
who's down there, frying those eggs,
if you don't get up and see.

From the collection, On the Bus with Rosa Parks